I had the privilege of having a wonderful Christian family. I grew up in a church family. I had loads of biblical teaching. I became a Sunday school teacher myself as a teenager and a camp counselor. I had questions that I asked and got answers to, sometimes they satisfied me and sometimes they didn’t. Answering questions about all that it means to be a Christian, about the Bible, about prayer, about Church and about God can be tough. Sometimes the explanations needed explaining and one could get lost in all the Christian-ease.

I have been a parent now for almost 20 years and a pastor for almost 10. I have often felt frustrated by the questions from children. I never felt I could answer them well enough for them to understand in their language. And now just recently, a three year from our church asked his mom, “What does AMEN mean when I pray?” So the mom asked me how to answer it and it had me stumped as to how to answer a child so young. By the way Mom…….if he is asking this question at three then you had better be prepared for a lot more heading your way.

I have found the very best resource….sure wish I had it when I had young children. I am recommending that this become a permanent tool for every parent, every Sunday School teacher, every grandparent and every pastor.

Published by Integrity Publishers in 2006, there are over 200 questions that are explained in a way that is to understand and gives supportive scripture references as well. The sections include: God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, The Bible, Christianity, Prayer, The Church, Christian Seasons and Holidays, Being a Christian Here and Now, Being a Christian Forever and Ever, and Big Questions.

From the back cover it says: “This book helps kids understand and articulate what they believe and why they believe it. It reassures young hearts that God cares for them and loves them very much! Most importantly, it encourages young hearts to embrace a personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus.”

I whole heartily agree with this. And guess what? I even learned some stuff by reading this book.

As for the answer to my young three year old friend; the answer is found on page 135!

Happy Reading!
Shelley

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Click here to go to Kathryn Slattery’s Website

Last night Shelley and I went and saw the movie “Music and Lyrics” with Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore.
It was a good movie. Hugh Grant plays the role of a 1980’s pop star who hasn’t had any success since. He is trying to ride out his life on what he used to be. It has humorous flasbacks to the 80’s videos and has scenes where he sings to the now 30 - 50 year old women who were his fans back in the 80’s…all of them trying to pretend that time hasn’t changed anything. But they have changed, music has changed and fashion styles have changed.

There is probably a place in the past that we all wish we could stay in.
I wish my kids were forever 3 and 5 years old, and I was forever 28, but the reality is that they have grown up and I am growing older. To try and stay in the past and refuse to see that things have changed would be unhealthy and unproductive.

So it is with the church as well. There were great times in the past but it would be unhealthy and unproductive to try and pretend that nothing has changed. The world has changed and the only way we are going to relate and communicate with the world is if we speak and present the gospel message in the language and style of today. This is not a compromise of values or principles or faith, it is simply doing what Jesus did, reaching out to a lost world and meeting them where they live.

On Saturday we did some serious house-cleaning at the church. In the end we filled a dump truck full of junk that was just taking up space in the building. It is interesting how things can just accumulate without anybody really even noticing, it happens so gradually until one day we look around and wonder “How did it get like this?”

Our lives are the same way. We all want to live our lives the best way we can, but if we are not careful to watch what comes into our lives; slowly, gradually and unwittingly we accumulate spiritual junk until one day we stop and look around and wonder, “How did I get like this?” Perhaps it takes a crisis to cause us to look at ourselves and see the junk, or perhaps one day we just stop, look around and realize we are not anywhere near God anymore. It is the junk in our lives that does it to us. And none of us are exempt from it. If we are not careful, we can all begin to accumulate junk.

Albert Orsborn, one of the great General’s of The Salvation Army wrote the following words:
Wash from my hands the dust of earthly striving;
Take from my mind the stress of secret fear;
Cleanse thou the wounds from all but thee far hidden.
And when the waters flow let my healing appear.

From a hill I know,
Healing waters, flow:
O rise, Immanuel’s tide,
And my soul overflow!

The “hill” he refers to is Calvary where Jesus died on the cross. The healing waters are the blood of Jesus Christ, which is the only thing that is capable of washing the junk out of our lives.

Remember:
It is easier to keep things clean than it is to clean them up after they have gotten out of control.

On Sunday afternoon Shelley and I had the opportunity to celebrate the Chinese New Year with our friends from Agape Chinese Baptist Church who meet in our building on Sunday afternoons. We have become very good friends with the leadership of their church and so it was an honour to be invited to join them for their celebration. This was the first time I have seen the “Lion Dance” in person. The two young boys who performed did a fantastic job in my opinion (but remember this is the first Lion Dance I have ever seen). We shared in some of the traditional foods and in fellowship. It was a great time. To everyone celebrating the Chinese New Year…Happy New Year.

What a privilege and joy it is to be able to worship in freedom!

Why do we not accept this as privilege in our churches?

Why do so many people arrive to the place designed to be completely focused on worship and yet do anything but worship the Lord?

What have we done wrong over the years to create such a mess?

Why aren’t our people coming in …running in and falling face down in reverence and worship?

Why are they coming, with arms crossed and closed minds?

Just thinking.

These are very thought provoking…

Don’t let your worries get the best of you, remember, Moses started out as a basket case.

Many folks want to serve God, but only as advisors.

When you get to your wit’s end, you’ll find God lives there.

Opportunity may knock once, but temptation bangs on your front door forever.

Peace starts with a smile. 

Isn’t it strange how a 20 dollar bill seems like such a large amount when you donate it to church, but such a small amount when you go shopping?

Isn’t it strange how two hours seem so long when you are at church, and how short they seem when you are watching a good movie?

Isn’t it strange that you can’t find a word to say when you’re praying, but you have no trouble talking with a friend?

Isn’t it strange how difficult and boring it is to read one chapter of the Bible, but how easy it is to read 100 pages of a popular novel?

Isn’t it strange how everyone wants front row tickets to concerts or sport events, but they do whatever it possible to sit at the last row in Church?

Isn’t it strange how we need to know about an event for church 2-3 weeks before the day so we can include it in our agenda, but we can adjust it for other events in the last minute?

Isn’t it strange how difficult it is to learn a fact about God to share it with others, but how easy it is to learn, understand, extend and repeat gossip?

Isn’t it strange how we can believe everything that magazines and newspapers and our friends tell us, but we question the words of the Bible?

Isn’t it strange how everyone wants a place in heaven, but they don’t want to believe, do or say anything to get there?

NEVER ALONE

One of God’s most precious promises is found in Deuteronomy 31:6 and in Joshua 1:5

 “I will be with thee, I will not fail thee nor forsake thee”

On reflection, this promise has been the consistent theme in my life. From the beginning I felt his presence because I was born into a God fearing-Christ loving home.  Here I was taught and taken to Sunday school to learn about my need for Christ as a savior and shepherd in my life. This teaching by some very faith filled Sunday school teachers gave me a firm grounding in my faith.

As a young adult I moved away from my really close walk with God but as he promised he never gave up on me.  He just kept placing people in my life that drew me closer to Him again.

When my marriage fell apart he surrounded me with a “family” of believers to provide spiritual and practical help and encouragement as I was raising my daughters as a single parent.  What a partner God is, always faithful and supportive, wanting only the best for us.

After a time God brought into my life a God honouring man with whom I shared my life.  His work provided opportunities to move and with each move He provided a “church family” that encouraged us in our walk with God.

When God call my husband home I experienced a sense of loneliness but once again God reminded me I was not alone. The prayers of his people lifted me and his Holy Spirit surrounded me.  This expression of love by my “Family” at church and CMA was in deed proof that God does not neglect or forsake me.

As I look back at my life the poem  “Footprints” has become a personal testimony for me.  Some times He walks beside me, sometimes He carries me,  but He NEVER leaves me ALONE.

Matthew 28:20b  “I am with you Always, even unto the end of the world..”

My family was, to all appearances, typical of the times. I was the eldest of five children; my mother was a war bride, and my father a labourer. We were very poor as Dad wasn’t always able to find work. I can remember times where there was nothing to eat. Someone else originally owned all our clothes.  I don’t recall being upset about those things. I think, like most children, I just accepted it. There was one thing, however, that affected me for the rest of my life.  When I was eight years old, I was sexually assaulted.

When I entered my teens, I started becoming involved with the boys in our village.  Being controlled by my assaulter conditioned me to accept misuse by others. I married a man who was abusive while still in my teens. His actions caused the early birth and death of my first son. When he went to jail for attacking a young girl, I left. I later divorced him and married another man.  It seemed that I had found happiness. I became pregnant and my husband started having affairs.  That marriage ended when our son was less than two years old.

I was now in my early twenties, twice divorced and a single parent. I was also strong willed and determined that I was ging to make something of my life. And I did. I became one of the first women to drive a transit bus and later a highway coach. I was elected to city council and became a published writer. All my goals were met. Despite all this, my emotional life was still a mess. It took two events to turn my life around.

I had become a Christian during my second marriage and from then on was always aware of God’s hand on my life. After my second divorce, I lived two lives. In one, I was a church going mother and in the other, I was a party girl. I was still being controlled by the abuse I had experienced and I didn’t think I was ever going to get over it. I don’t remember just when I realized the path to freedom lay in forgiving those who had hurt me. It wasn’t easy to do but when I took that step I was able to start becoming the person I was created to be.

The second event involved a miracle. When my son was five years old, I met a man and we went together for nearly three years. We had a good relationship but he was involved in drugs and I didn’t want my son exposed to that lifestyle.  Breaking up with him was one of the most painful things I had ever done. He moved to Alberta and started a new life and I assumed that I would be on my own for the rest of my life.

God had other plans and twenty years later, He brought this man back into my life. We will celebrate our fifteenth wedding anniversary this year (2006). Through his unconditional love, I have come to accept the love of others. Roger & I became members of Castledowns Salvation Army when I joined him in Edmonton after our marriage and it has become our second home. The people who attend this church are our family. They pray for us, encourage us and overlook our frailties. I know that if I have a need I can call for help any time of the day or night.

Roger & I are both avid motorcyclists and are able to use our past lives ministering to other bikers as members of the Christian Motorcyclists Association.  When we are on the road, our church family prays for our safety.
 
I will be sixty this year and as I look back over my life, I can honestly say I am blessed. I could have ended up with AIDS, living on the street or alone and unloved. I am so thankful for my Heavenly Father’s patience and love.

Everyone who becomes a Christian is lead to our Father, God, by someone -or- somehow.

There is a starting point. Some of us were raised in Christian homes and our awareness of God has always been there.  For others, God became real to them at a certain point in their life, and for others…not until they hit rock bottom in their lives. 

A Christian is someone who has made a decision that they believe what the Bible says about God and about humanity and how Jesus came to break down the barrier between us -which is called “sin”. On our Blog, We are going to share our stories, so that you can get to know us better. Our church is made up of people with all sorts of different experiences. We hope that you will find these personal testimonies encouraging. We also want to hear your story.  Why did you decide to believe what Jesus taught? Who was it that shared God’s love with you? Where did it happen? How did it happen? That is your story and your story alone. Tell us your story!

If you haven’t made that decision yet, perhaps these stories will give you some encouragement to make that decision now…and if you do….share it with us!